Re: About the pid and opts files

> Particularly the locale-related env vars.  I think it is a serious
> bug in the current system that it is possible to start the postmaster
> with locale vars different from the values in effect at initdb time.
> You can corrupt your text-column indices completely that way, because
> the sort ordering an index depends on can change from run to run.

Our upcoming work on character sets should include this area as an
issue. We haven't yet discussed how and where "locale" is used, but its
effects may be more isolated once we allow multiple character sets in an
installation.
                      - Thomas